Everything on model trains, model railroads, model railways, locomotives, model train layouts, scenery, wiring, DCC and more. Enjoy the world's best hobby... model railroading!
Hand-Laying Track
Dale asks readers:
“Hand-laying HO track is fairly easy; simply spike the rails to the ties (sleepers). Does anyone have experience hand-laying N scale, code 80, track? Are the spikes going to be strong enough, or is it better to glue the rails down?”
Add your comment below.
SUBMIT YOUR QUESTION
I’ve used spikes, glue and track screws on N scale track, and for me the screws are the way to go. I got 1000 on Ebay and they will last me for life. You can remove them easily without doing any damage. If you have a hard baseboard it means you will be pre-drilling with a tiny drill (maybe 0.8mm), in your Dremel,but that can be therapeutic. Don’t over tighten or you will distort the sleeper, just snug.
The P4 guys used to use heat activated Pliobond to stick their track to their sleepers. It worked well, and I would recommend a similar approach when making Code 80 N scale track rather than spiking. Spiking in this size rail is like using a sledge hammer to drive an upholstery tack. I’ve not tried it, but instinct tells me it would be a better approach.
depends on what your roadbed and ties are. I’ve used spikes only on pine ties and roadbed for years on HO track. Not a big fan of glue , hat’s off to those that use it
So far in my initial laying I use track nails and pre-drill the ties?cork/ply base using a 0.7
mm twist drill in a finger drill The us a track pin “pusher” to seat the pins to the ties.
I use nails OUTSIDE of the rails.
This avoids problems with deformed sleepers, and is a lot easier to remove the nail later.
TKS FOR THE INFO. DO U REMEMBER THE # ON EBAY I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE THEM JUST IF I NEED THEM.
TKS skip